


Speak Up (because no one will understand if you don't)

by Essenity



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Acceptance, Angst, Confessions, Date Rape, Gang Rape, Gen, Hostage Situations, Negotiations, Past Rape/Non-con, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-10
Updated: 2014-06-10
Packaged: 2018-02-04 03:48:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1764483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Essenity/pseuds/Essenity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony talks down a girl about to commit suicide by telling her of something that also happened to him once.</p><p>The Avengers are brought in to help with hostage situation and negotiations but not everything is as clear cut as it appears.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for an Avenger KinkMeme prompt: http://avengerkink.livejournal.com/19023.html?thread=45200975#t45200975
> 
> This is a second fill/treat from a different author.

They get the call at 1:08pm on a Tuesday. It's not particularly threatening in terms of global security. It's not even a worry for national security, to be honest. But it's a hostage situation in the nearby high school and Steve makes the decision to take it because they can. There's no specific information en route, no one knows the reason, no one knows the background story and everyone is preparing for a lunatic mad man on a killing spree because of political reasons or because of religious beliefs or because of race hate.   
  
 _High school cafeteria, approximately 109 students and staff members unaccounted for – possibly taken hostage, potential single unknown subject, kill shot advised._ That's the sort of information they received both from the media and from Up Top. Tony never knows who exactly that is.  
  
When the Avengers arrive, they aren't the first on scene but the first thing they notice is that the swat team and the FBI are present and they have the high school gymnasium surrounded. It's a fancy piece of architecture with clear glass walls. It's private school for kids of status and wealth and while 109 people are unaccounted for, it's clear there's only about thirty or so people huddled in the far wall that is connected to the main school building – not transparent, no exit, no point in having that wall surrounded. There's a group of six people (students and staff) separated from the rest of the hostages. They are on their knees, with their hands on their head, facing the transparent wall and a slim blonde girl stands in front of them, a gun in one hand and what looks like a rectangular box in the other.   
  
"Oh, that's not good," Natasha, who sounded surprisingly hopeful on their way here, sounds like she's just given up. Steve follows her gaze and he nudges the crisis scene manager.  
  
"What's that?" Steve asks and the manager shakes his head. Tony can see his tag on his vest – Summers, R – and Tony wonders what his first name is. Robert? Rahul? His last name is obviously Western, but he looks like he's of ambiguous ethnicity. The darker skin tone could potentially be due to environment. He's got a standard issued cap on. The rest of him is also clad in standard issued uniform and equipment. Tony can't see much of his face; he's got a pair of those SmartStarkies on. They look like a pair of expensive branded merchandise but for all you know, he could be reading about your entire life story.  
  
"Not looking well. It looks like a remote of some sort, Team Beta haven't been able to locate what it's connected to, but we're acting as if it's a bomb."  
  
The Avengers are handed small Bluetooth enabled ear-buds and they obediently insert them. Clint excuses himself with his weapons (a gun instead of a bow). He's twenty feet away and just about to disappear when Clint's voice sounds in the Avenger's hearing – "checking, one, two, Hawkeye about to ascend."  
  
Summers looks pointedly at Steve, "he's your guy, he'll take orders from you, Captain."  
  
There's a moment hesitation from Steve before Summers confirms the handover, "I report to you now."  
  
Steve makes a nod, but instead of reaffirming, he returns the chain of command, "No, Sir. You've been here since the beginning. You'll stay in charge of scene management. I'll be in the field. I need someone to provide a consistent stream of information."  
  
"Yes, Sir," Summers gives a salute and clears his throat. "Team Beta, Gamma and Kilo, Captain America's commands will be seniority. Do you copy?" Confirmations from three team leaders sound in their ear pieces.   
  
Clint is already annoyed, but his voice is calm and gives nothing away, "Cap, what's the command?"  
  
"Kill shot is Scorpio."  
  
There's a moment of silence before Clint replies, "I have the solution."  
  
Tony suppresses the urge to laugh. There's been too much peace lately and they've obviously watched too much TV.

A rookie runs up to them and her slight stature and timid personality prevents her from getting directly through to Summers. She thrusts a stack of papers in the Natasha's direction, who's standing closest to her. Natasha takes them and eyes them for two seconds before giving them to Tony, "Your brain works faster than I do."  
  
Tony glances down and he understands why. The pages are full of paragraphs and he frowns. They are printouts of what could possibly be from a digital journal. Nothing in particular jumps out at him. He flips to the back and discovers that the papers are not all written by the suspect. There are school reports at the back.   
  
"Subject's name is Sophie Langston, just turned 16." Tony says and when his eyes flit over Sophie's achievements, he knows they've profiled wrong. "It's not a bomb."  
  
"I disagree," Summers replies. "There's no evidence and we cannot take the chance. We will continue operating on the assumption that there's a bomb."  
  
"You've been wrong since the beginning," Tony says confidently as he flips through the pages in his hands. Words have started jumping out at him as he skims the paragraphs written by Sophie. Some are good, some are not so good and some are distressing. "You assumed it was the cafeteria, the only reason you didn't surround the wrong building is because this building is see through. You said 109 people unaccounted for, you failed to notice that today is not a normal school day for this school. The kids in there are part of the same extracurricular activity."  
  
"With all due respect, there's no way you could tell that. You've just arrived!"  
  
"Take a look, half of them are wearing the same sporting outfit and the other half are wearing cheerleading uniform. Today is their practise day. They must have a competition coming up."  
  
Steve bites his tongue and takes a closer look at their clothes. Tony's right. They can't work with the information they've been given. Who knows what else is wrong?  
  
"How can you explain why you think there isn't a bomb?"  
  
"Simple, your team hasn't found it yet. Team Beta is the lead bomb squad in the nation. They are also famous for locating bombs in record time."  
  
"Doesn't mean we can rule it out."  
  
"Her academic achievements will tell you more. She's an average student in arts, excels in the French language but that's probably due to prior knowledge, she's above average in literature classes and below average in sciences. She failed her chemistry last term. It's highly unlikely she managed to put together a bomb without blowing herself up first." Tony hands over the last page with Sophie's marks on it. "I'm not saying a bomb threat should be ruled out entirely. I'm saying we need to explore other scenarios."  
  
"Excuse me," a voice sounds in their ear pieces and everyone goes quiet. "This is Beth, your tech specialist speaking. There are no phones in the gym but if the subject is Sophie Langston, then I have her mobile number."  
  
Summers makes a nod, "patch me through."   
  
"Will do," Beth replies and within seconds, ringing starts and Sophie turns around to face them. She's visibly distressed and Tony knows she's in over her head.  
  
"She's not picking up," Summers says.  
  
"Maybe she doesn't have her phone with her?" Steve counters.  
  
"What teenage girl doesn't keep her phone with her at all times?"  
  
"Point."  
  
It's on the ninth ring when Sophie raises the hand with the unidentified black box and the entire response team almost falls into chaos. There are five distinct voices saying, "I have the solution" and multiple "bomb!" exclamations.   
  
Steve doesn't give the command and snipers keep repeating  _I have the solution_.  
  
Tony steps forward and barks, "hold fire! Hold fire! Steve, tell them! Hold fire!"  
  
Steve doesn't look like he knows what to do and Summers looks like he's about to override Tony's insistence. But there's a moment of absolute silence before Clint's clear, crisp voice sounds, "Hold fire."  
  
They all let out a collective sigh of relief when Sophie brings the black box to her ear and the ringing stops and is replaced by her voice, "hello?"


	2. Chapter 2

"Hi, my name is Ray," Summers says and Tony thinks _ahhh, Ray then. But is it just Ray or short for Raymond?_ "What's your name?"

Even from their distance, Tony can see she's trembling and unsure. "S-s-sophie," she stutters. "My name is Sophie."

He shakes his head and squints at the pages, something isn't adding up. Sophie writes of close friends, happy events, birthday parties, camps, trainings… "Summers, ask her what is she doing?"

Summers gives a nod and directs the question to Sophie, "Sophie, what are you doing?"

Sophie doesn't say anything for a few seconds but when she does, her voice is as timid as her posture, "I-I don't know."

"Can you let the students go, Sophie?"

There's silence again and suddenly the line goes dead.

Summers puts a hand to his ear piece and asks, "Team Member B2, G2, K2 and Hawkeye, what is the situation? Is Sophie escalating?"

"Negative," comes the response and then Clint gives "snipers, stand down".

"We've gotta get ears inside," Summers grumbles just as Sophie turns her back and starts pointing and waving her hands at the 30 or so people.

"Subject escalating, I have the solution," is instantly heard and their weapons click into firing position again.

"Hold fire!" Clint barks and Tony wonders why it is that Clint has a different opinion to the other snipers. There must be something Clint can see that no one else can. Clint confirms Tony's suspicions with his next request, "Iron Man, something happened to Sophie, read faster."

So Tony flips the pages and tries to find a change in Sophie's writing. A school report catches his attention and he flicks his eyes over her grades from three terms ago. Above average to excelling student in all areas with the exception in science, she was lagging behind, but by no means failing.

"Cap, something happened to Sophie in the summer," Tony announces.

"This makes no sense!" Summers interrupts and Tony's attention is pulled towards the gymnasium as the group of 30-ish hostages file out. Tony narrows his eyes at them. There's fear but also guilt on their faces. Not one of them looks like they are questioning why this is happening to them.

Steve sees it too and he gives an order to Team Kilo who are moving forward to meet the released hostages, "don't let them go anywhere."

Kilo's team leader replies, "Copy, Sir."

Summers tries calling Sophie again but this time, she doesn't answer. One of the boys kneeling closest to her gets her attention and suddenly it looks like they're having an argument. The argument continues until Sophie brings the butt of her gun down across the boy's temple. He crumples to the ground and Sophie points her gun at him.

"Stand by for kill shot command," Steve commands but his body language shows reluctance.

"Don't do this Steve," Tony grabs Steve's arm but he's shaken off.

"I have no choice, Tony."

Sophie looks like she's yelling again and to the response team; it just looks like she's escalating and Tony can't stand it anymore. He pulls back and walks around the frontline defence, shedding his Iron Man suit as he goes.

"TONY!" Steve shouts, "What the hell are you doing?! PULL BACK!" Steve sounds like he's about to panic and Tony really doesn't know what he's doing, but he's not going to stop. He walks into the gymnasium with his hands in the air and with no protection.

"Solution lost, civilian in line of fire," comes one voice and Tony moves forward.

"He's no fucking civilian," Steve mutters. "Go ahead and shoot the idiot for all I care."

There's a moment hesitation and a second sniper hesitates, "permission to stand down, Sir."

For a moment, Tony thinks Steve is going to give the command because Sophie cocks her weapon and puts it directly to the head of a second student. Tony peers at the one on the floor. He's lying still, there's a small amount of blood, presumably from the strike of the gun, but he's alert and… guilty.

"Permission granted," Steve grunts. "Stark, you're fucking grounded if she doesn't blow your brains out."

Tony does some wave with his hand to signal he heard and he grins at Sophie, "Hey Sophie, I'm Tony. Tony Stark, you've heard of me."

Sophie shakes her head and gives an answer Tony isn't expecting, "only from the news."

"Really? Your dad's never talked about having meetings with me? Oh maybe you've heard of Pepper! She's the one who actually sets them up and goes…"

"I DON'T KNOW WHO YOU ARE!" Sophie screams at Tony. "GET OUT! YOU DON'T NEED TO BE HERE!" She moves behind the line of kneeling hostages and grabs one by the cuff of their collar, bringing her gun to his head.

He's been crying, Tony notices, but instead of fear or guilt, there's acceptance on his face. _These people did something to Sophie_ , Tony realises and he feels a wave of disappointment wash over him.

"I'll kill him! I swear, I'll kill him!"

"Is that what they deserve?" Tony asks and in his ear, he hears, "Solution lost, civilian in line of fire." Tony shifts slightly to the right so that he's directly facing Sophie. They're about five feet away.

"Solution lost, Mr. Stark in line of fire."

"Tony, move." Steve commands.

"No," Tony says, more for the benefit of himself, he doesn't want to be shot, but he doesn't want Sophie to be killed either. But Sophie thinks he's talking to her so he continues, "no, you're doing this because it's what they deserve. They ruined your life. It doesn't have to be like this, Sophie."

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Sophie retorts and for the first time, Tony sees the dried streaks of tears on her face. Her eyes are dead; it's a look he recognises because for a time, he woke up every morning to that look in the mirror. "I'll do it!"

Clint's annoyed voice comes through, "I have the kill shot if I have permission to shoot through Tony. It'll hurt, but he won't die."

Tony shivers, "please don't. Talk to me, Soph, what did they do to you?"

She's got her finger on the trigger and she's shaking so bad, Tony thinks she'll set the gun off by accident.

"I-I-I-can't! No! You can't make me!"

"Okay, Soph, I won't, but please, can you put the gun down? Let's just talk about this," Tony takes a step forward and Sophie swings her arm straight, pointing the weapon at Tony.

"Stark, listen up," Natasha's voice interrupts and Tony has to strain to concentrate on two situations. "August of last year, there was a student camp for the cheerleading squad and the football team. Completely off book, no faculty involvement. The kids planned it all themselves. I can't confirm it, but I suspect Sophie was a victim of a gang bang by her own team and friends." Tony's breath catches in his throat and he has to fight to keep the emotions on his face from showing. "Oh, and Tony? She's not a rich kid, but no one knew until last year. She's here because of her uncle. He has no children of his own so he's paying for her tuition." With that, Tony takes another step forward. He understands now, Sophie isn't going to hurt him, because he didn't do anything to her.

"Stay back!"

"Okay, that's good, Sophie, you're doing good." Tony raises his arms higher as if that will prove he's not going to attack her.

"How about you let these people go and I'll stay and chat?"

"NO! No way! They deserve this!"

"Sophie, I'm going to tell you something, okay?"

Sophie looks uncertain, but what kid would in this situation? "What?"

"There are four snipers ready to kill you. They will take the shot and they won't miss. I'm good friends with one of them. He swears that he actually doesn't have the ability to miss." Tony cracks a smile. "So kid, if you kill these people here, you're going down with them."

Sophie doesn't react to that as expected, instead, she whispers, "I know."

Instantly, Steve and Summers are barking orders into the comms, "Snipers stand down! Everyone stand down! Team fall back!"

Clint is the only one who disobeys, "negative, Sirs, she's got a gun on Stark."

"Jesus Christ," Summers breathes out, "this is suicide by cop."

"Soph," Tony starts again, "you don't understand, it means you're going to die. Today."

"I know," Sophie repeats. "I know! And this is why I'm doing this!"

In his ear, Natasha says, "because she can't bring herself to do it."

"Can't we do this another day?" Tony asks playfully. "It's a beautiful day out, you could eat your favorite things one last time, maybe go to the beach-"

"I HATE THE BEACH!" Sophie screams and she brings the gun back to the guy lying on the floor.

"Okay, okay, not the beach," Tony corrects hastily. "But Sophie, can't we just talk about this? Did these people hurt you?"

"They planned it! The whole thing! Because I'm not like them! I'm neither rich, nor proper so they think they can do whatever they want to me! If I don't deserve to live, they don't either!"

For hostages facing almost certain death, Tony notices they're remarkably quiet. _It's guilt, they think it's karma_.

"Tony," Clint speaks up in his ear, "I'm going to have to take the shot."

Tony ignores him and takes another step, then another, closing the distance between him and Sophie. He reaches out for her hand with the gun and pulls it away from the boy. He puts it against his chest so that the barrel of the gun is aimed directly to his sternum. He will die like this, and Sophie knows it. Her eyes widen and she's shaking. "What are you doing?! What are you doing?!"

In his ear, Steve is shouting as well, "What are you doing?!"

The boy on the floor starts sliding away and Tony clenches down on Sophie's hand and arm. She can't get out of the hold unless she pulls the trigger. The boy clambers to his feet and so do the others; they make a run for the door.

"They will be apprehended, Sophie, but if you still want to die, you should tell us why so we can tell your uncle. He loves you as his own, Sophie. Help your family understand why you're doing this."

"You _won't_ understand! No one _ever_ understands!" Sophie is crying now. She doesn't want to pull the trigger, but she knows if she doesn't stop, she'll get a bullet in her head. "Please, just kill me, please," she sobs. "I'll pull the trigger; I'll do it if you don't kill me!"

In his ear, Steve's reluctant voice speaks up, "stand by for kill shot command," and Clint responds with, "Solution available through hostage," and Tony knows it means he'll be hospitalized for a few weeks and spend the next few months recovering from a severe GSW.

Another voice speaks up, and Tony can only assume it's a sniper from one of the teams. He must have relocated because what he says sends chills down Tony's spine. "I have the solution. It's a clear shot."

He's got a backup plan; it's a last ditch effort and Tony doesn't want to do this, especially with half the Avengers and three national squads to hear about it.

"Scor-" Steve starts but before he finishes, Tony interrupts loudly.

"My father didn't know about it," Tony begins and shifts his body purposefully so that he's close enough to pull her close into a hug, putting his body between her and the line of fire, effectively shielding her from her own death. The buzz and static and commands to stand down irritate his brain but he keeps the bud in his ear to keep the lines open. They should know the truth; his team should know sometimes people are driven to do desperate things when they're backed into a corner. His team should understand that sometimes, you just need to reach out a hand and help someone up to change the world. "My mother pretended it never happened. My best friend didn't know and to this day, he still doesn't. My lecturer admonished me, _don't make up stories little Stark,_ " Tony mimics the last few words and paused because Sophie is shaking viciously with sobs. Tony holds her closer to his chest and her hand with the gun goes slack and falls to her side. The gun clatters to the ground and Tony kicks it away. "My girlfriend at the time told me _men can't get raped_ , and then she dumped me for cheating on her with an older woman. The tutor I confided in at MIT told me I should just keep my head down and get on with it. _Suck it up_ , because no one is going to believe me." In his ear, there's nothing but electronic buzzing and Tony makes a note to upgrade the tech. He doesn't like constant buzzing. Tony continues, "my godfather spent three hours sweeping it under the rug, because that's easier than going to court. I'm torn between feeling angry at the injustice and feeling grateful for not having to have my humiliation dragged through the media. But today, I regret that I never stood up. I never shouted out. I stayed silent and this is what tears you apart."

Behind him, Team Beta and Gamma are closing in. Steve and Summers are still outside, giving orders and sorting logistics. There is radio silence from Clint.

"If you died today, you'll be letting them win."

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Sophie sobs into his chest and Tony nods.

"I know, Soph, I know." It hurts Tony to know Sophie will be walking out in cuffs, but at least she'll be walking. The men close in on them and Tony releases Sophie. She continues crying as they handcuff her and read her rights to her before taking her away.

The commotion has died down and almost everyone aside from the team leaders have disconnected from comms.

"That was fucking stupid, Stark." Summers growls and Tony swings his eyes toward Summer's direction. He's still outside the gymnasium and too far for Tony to make out his expression.

"The gun wasn't loaded," Tony says. "She was never going to kill anyone. I knew the second I took her hand."

Summers visibly lets out a long breath of relief, thankful the command was never given, and he disconnects from his comms and walks towards the three other team leaders who also disconnect.

"You do realize, Tony, you're going to get week long lectures about personal safety, self preservation and god knows what else after we get debriefed." Steve says but Tony can hear the relief in his voice as well as sadness.

"Well done, Stark." Clint says and Tony sees him walk up from behind Steve. He unhooks his weapon from himself, disables it and places it on the table for the rookies to repack.

"Tony," Steve starts and Tony winces. There's a hint of something strange in Steve's tone and Tony wants to stay far away. He doesn't want to be confronted. "Tony, come out. Why don't we go have a meal?" _Comfort food_ , Tony thinks. Steve knows him well, he always has a good meal after a terrifying experience. "We can talk-"

"No," Tony starts, "I know I should speak up, I know I should talk about it, but can we not? I just… I can't, okay?"

From where he's standing, still in the gymnasium, it's a miracle Tony catches Steve's very slight nod. "Yeah, okay, but, we'll be here. I will be here if you ever need it."

"Thanks," Tony says and it takes him extra effort to put one foot in front of the other to walk himself out to join his friends. He knows, tonight, he'll be getting a satellite call from Rhodey and they're just going to hold the line and not speak, but just pretend they're sitting in the same room.


End file.
